A final lesson… email can be more powerful than a phone call

I have, for more than a week, been trying to get some resolution from the hotel I mentioned in earlier posts by telephone. I was, I suppose, of the belief that a phone call would be more effective than email. And in some cases it is. But today, out of frustration, I pulled open a Google search to dig out some relevant email addresses. I sent an email to the Assistant Manager I had been dealing with, and copied the email to the hotel’s General Manager AND the customer relations department of the hotel chain’s head office.

A half a dozen phone messages couldn’t get a call back from the hotel in six days. An email worked within six minutes. Not only did I receive a phone call, but my issues were resolved nearly instantly.

What was in the email? Simply a note to say that I was dismayed with the lack of contact, that I thought I had been lied to when the hotel management said they would quickly resolve the issue, and a promise to share my negative experience on hotel review sites on the Web. I believe that it was the fact that the mail was sent to his superiors rather than the content of the message that spurred the Hotel manager into action, but the accusation of deception and dishonesty on the part of the hotel probably helped as well.

In any case, all’s well that ends well. And as a final takeaway, I’ve learned the power of a well distributed email to achieve results.